MAINEVILLE, Ohio — At Scoopz ice cream shop in Maineville, owner Kim Parker and her daughter Austin said they've found the ideal spot for their business.
"We're kind of a Mayberry community," Kim said.
The duo have been handing out scoops, splits and milkshakes in the center of Maineville for seven years, but weren't looking forward to the looming trouble on the horizon.
Just a few doors down around the corner on State Route 48, Mayor Bob Beebe was sounding the alarm that their village could soon lose protection from the Hamilton Township Police Department.
"There are eyes watching, just in case. It's a level of comfort that would be taken away," Austin said.
The department sits roughly 800 feet from the border of the village, but a spat between Maineville council and Hamilton Township's administration over a years-old taxation agreement has led to the township promising to pull police services.
Beebe said he got a letter from the Township announcing the withdrawal of police protections and zoning services Aug. 21.
"Shock. Hurt. A little bit of anger as well," Beebe said.
The mayor said the township's move came more than a month after what he described as a "threat" from township legal council that they would sever "all township contracts" with the village unless they agreed to enter into a Joint Economic Development District (JEDD) that had been in the works since 2021.
According to Beebe, the JEDD would have primarily benefited the township and prevented the village from ever growing beyond its current borders by restricting Maineville's annexation powers.
"It definitely had the township at the helm in control of the village, basically. So we responded back and said we'd be willing to negotiate," he said.
The loss of police services threatens all collaboration between the two municipalities, Beebe said.
"We work very well together," Beebe said. "Is that going to come to an end? I don't know. All I know is we didn't ask for this."
Hamilton Township Administrator Jeff Wright responded to the mayor's allegations in an extended statement.
Wright forwarded WCPO an email from February of 2024 in which Beebe acknowledged the town had already agreed to the JEDD.
"I believe it would be beneficial to get together and discuss some of our Zoning contract details as well as the JEDD that we agreed to enter into with Hamilton Township a few years back," Beebe wrote.
In his statement Thursday, Wright wrote that the details of the economic agreement had long been decided.
"The Township Board of Trustees was very surprised that after three years of discussions with the Village to accomplish the JEDD with them, that they were proposing to change the terms of the JEDD at the '11th hour,'" he said.
Wright said the town of Maineville, under Beebe's leadership, disbanded their own police department in 2021.
"Our responsibility to provide the best possible services to our residents must take precedence over us providing services to another jurisdiction," Wright said,
Beebe said if there's no resolution to both party's issues by the February 2025 police protection withdrawal date, they would turn to the Warren County Sheriff's Office for emergency response.
As for Parker, she just wanted to ensure the town and her business remained safe.
"I would hope that, above all, that the community is a priority, and the community needs their police," said Parker.
Watch Live:
